On a dry, sunny afternoon last week — hours before any late-afternoon rain fell — Shirley Robello was at the Keaau Transfer Station, tapping the water spigots, a clutter of empty gallon jugs in tow.
On a dry, sunny afternoon last week — hours before any late-afternoon rain fell — Shirley Robello was at the Keaau Transfer Station, tapping the water spigots, a clutter of empty gallon jugs in tow.
“There’s just been no rain,” Robello, 39, said with a sigh. “(Monday) night I thought it actually might rain, but it was just this misting thing. So we got maybe, half a gallon of water.”
Robello has learned to stop in early. By evening, she said there’s usually a line. Especially these days, as the islandwide El Nino-induced drought continues and rainwater catchment tanks are trickling dry.
The U.S. Drought Monitor lists the entire island as “abnormally dry” and about 50 percent under a “moderate drought.” Some areas, such as Kohala Ranch, have reported as little as 3 percent of typical monthly rainfall averages so far in February.
“El Nino, especially the strong El Nino we have going on, adjusts the weather patterns so that, across the Pacific we get very dry and stable conditions,” said Kevin Kodama, a hydrologist for the National Weather Service.
Kodama said El Nino typically occurs every two to seven years, and this year’s been particularly bad. In 1998, the island saw its strongest El Nino on record.
As of Friday afternoon, Hilo International Airport had recorded 3.28 inches of rain, which is 37 percent of normal for the month, or about 5.5 inches short.
For Robello, the dry weather means her 10,000-gallon catchment tank is nearly empty.
It also means a chunk of her time each day is spent driving to the spigots — simply to continue the “bare minimum” activities such as cleaning and bathing.
Each trip to the spigot takes about an hour, she said, which includes fill-up time and the round-trip drive from her 1-acre home in Hawaiian Paradise Park.
“It’s been fun,” Robello said with a sarcastic grin. “We have to get water every day, pretty much.”
For others, such as HPP resident Richard Sullivan, 67, who also relies on catchment, dry weather means emptier-than-usual pockets.
“The worst effect is, you have to pay for water to be trucked in,” Sullivan said. “To fill up my (5,000-gallon) tank, it’s like $180. So it’s expensive.”
Drought conditions have meant more work for water haulers, such as Tammy Ortiz, owner of K&T Water Hauling in Keaau, who said the company’s seen a recent “extreme hike in business.” Ortiz has been in business for 21 years, however, and said the company’s well-prepared when the weather dries up.
“This is kind of our dry season,” she said. “We’ll have a nice drought, and it will rain a little bit, but we’ve been doing it 21 years, and this is normal for us.”
A weekly weather report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported island weather as mostly dry with “abundant volcanic haze” … which “has increased flower and foliage damage on some floriculture crops in the heavy vog areas of the island.”
Lester Ueda, county executive director for the USDA Farm Service Agency, said reports of drought conditions on farms and ranches are trickling in, particularly from the leeward side. Grass in the Glenwood area is drier than he has ever seen it there, Ueda said, and a Hilo banana farmer on Monday reported that her fruits were not developing properly for lack of water.
Ueda said in an email some have reported “very minimal rainfall since October 2015.”
Holualoa coffee farmer Bruce Corker said if the dry season continues, it will likely lead to a reduced crop.
The drought has kept the coffee largely dormant, and there has been only one significant flowering at a date when the orchards should have finished two or three blooms, he said.
Water conservation notices are in effect in Honalo, Kealakekua and Waimea. The Hawaii County Department of Water Supply is urging residents to reduce water use by 10 percent and take measures to conserve, such as refraining from partial laundry loads and to irrigate at night. DWS has kept up with demand so far, said manager Keith Okamoto said, but encourages conservation during periods of low rainfall.
The El Nino dry spell is predicted to continue at least through the spring on the windward side, Kodama said, and possibly longer for Kona folks.
“If you’re looking at the leeward side of the island, they may not see any relief for awhile until the next wet season, which is October,” Kodama said. “… The trade winds will come back in the summer and with that come the return of the trade wind showers; the windward side of the island is pretty efficient and producing rain (during) the trade wind conditions.
“On the Hilo side … there’s a higher likelihood of getting some relief, at least during the summertime.”
West Hawaii Today Reporter Bret Yager contributed to this article.
Email Kirsten Stewart at kstewart@hawaiitribune-herald.com.